Renaissance Academy students partner with QVC mentors

PHOENIXVILLE — Through a partnership with both QVC and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, more than a dozen high school-age Renaissance Academy students are exploring real world occupations and forming friendships with the adults that have them.

“For a lot of our students it’s just an awesome opportunity to think outside the box,” said Shari Cissel, the counselor running the program from the Renaissance Academy’s end. “A lot of them are going to be first-generation college, so they have nobody setting the path from them taking the SATs and other things.”

Cissel said 18 students spread through ninth, 10th and 11th grades are involved in the program, which kicked off in October. The students visit their mentors at the QVC headquarters in West Chester twice a month.

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The students were recommended by Cissel or teachers at the school for the program for “a huge variety of reasons.”

Among those reasons could be that the students intend to be the first in their family to go to college, that they’re having difficulties in academics or with attendance and need a positive mentor.

Some Cissel or teachers at Renaissance just knew would like to pursue a career path available at QVC.

“We’re moving the kids to do some learning beyond the walls of the school,” Cissel said, hence the title of the program, “Beyond School Walls.”

The program is popular with the students in it, who get opportunities to develop a positive relationship with the QVC employees while developing team-building, engineering, budgeting and time management skills through activities during their visits.

The wide variety of career paths offered at QVC makes it a good subject for “Beyond School Walls.”

“(Students) get exposed to all different careers,” Cissel said.

Screening of the applicants from QVC is done through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, which also facilitates a program for Renaissance Academy fifth graders that started last year when the students were in fourth grade.

Cissel said she hopes to run the high school-age program similarly, with the students retaining the same mentors as they move up in the grades.

Aside from the obvious benefits for the students, the program serves as an outlet for QVC workers to volunteer.

“A lot of people want to volunteer and they don’t have the time so, by bringing the kids to them on their lunch hour, (they can), which is pretty cool,” Cissel said.